graham norton

Graham Norton/Craig David

January 10, 2020 — Leave a comment

As always the male legend that is Craig David performed a medley of some of his hits including Seven Days and the ever famous Fill Me In. As far as male singers go it’s great to see him back after so long away and he hasn’t lost any of his touch. Vocal-wise his singing is a smooth and fluidic as ever, can carry raw emotion and it still melodic. Accompanied by just an acoustic guitarist Craig put on a great performance and reminded us of why he has still got what it takes. I admit that even though I’m not a huge fan of R&B I’ve still got a soft spot for artists like Craig David.

Also on the sofa were Daniel Radcliffe, Miriam Margolyes, Alan Cumming and Sharon Horgan discussing upcoming projects

Graham Norton/Harry Styles

December 6, 2019 — Leave a comment

Former One Direction star’s new singer, Harry Styles’s new single, Adore You, is out now and even I have to admit that it sounds alright. I heard it for the first time this evening and it does have a proper rock-type sound to it and vocally Harry’s singing seems to have gotten better. In terms of his singing his voice has more of a roughness to it which it didn’t have before. He actually sounds more like an actual musician and is leaving his boy-band image behind and is coming more into his own now as a solo artist. If the rest of his upcoming album is as good as his new song this could mean a progression into becoming a more serious musician. The performance did have a fishy element to it bearing in mind there was fish being projected in the background.

Since the group split up their music seems to have got better, sounding less manufactured.

Also on the sofa was Jodie Whittaker, Michael Palin, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Kevin Hart with banter and laughs as well as discussing upcoming projects.

Graham Norton/Kesha

November 29, 2019 — Leave a comment

Raising Hell, the new single from American singer, Kesha, is quite an upbeat type of song and has a gospel-sounding quality to it, and it’s probably as close to gospel sounding without going all the way. As always Kesha steals the show with her voice and stage presence. The song itself is upbeat and has a happy sound to it, also it has that singalong vibe to it with some EDM thrown into it. This is quite a good comeback for Kesha as musically it stays true to her musical roots as an artist, where her songwriting abilities are popular. She always the type of music she knows her fans will enjoy and this new song is an example of that. Rather interestingly everyone on the stage was dressed in pink. Pretty in pink (pardon the pun), the audience seemed to like it. In fact there was a lot of clapping and cheering from there.

Also on the sofa to share laughs, banter and discuss upcoming projects were David Mitchell, Chelsea and Hillary Clinton and Jamie Oliver

Graham Norton/Niall Horan

November 8, 2019 — Leave a comment

Former One Direction singer’s new single, Nice To Meet Ya, and I admit that it’s got a nice intro that’s worthy of Noel Gallagher and Alex from the Arctic Monkeys, and I don’t say that lightly. I admit that I’m not a huge fan of Niall, partly due to him being of boy-band stock, but even I have to admit this new song of his actually sounds pretty good. An entire dimension away from what I’m normally used to hearing. If Niall’s hoping to make the transition from boy-band to serious artists this is a good way to start it. It’s my type of music and is a decent mixture of Indie, electro and acoustic. If his new album, Flicker, sounds as good as Nice To Meet Ya  then I would be solely tempted to get a copy. His performance was really good and it was quite nice to see him play with a band, almost as if they record together, permanently. Now providing that he stays on this musical route there’s no reason why he can’t become a more serious indie/rock musician.

 

Also on the sofa were Helena Bonham Carter, Oliver Coleman, Chadwick Boseman, Lady Glennconnor and Richard Ayoade

Graham Norton/Camila Cabello

October 25, 2019 — Leave a comment

As a former member of the girl-group, Fifth Harmony, Camila Cabello absolutely wows as a solo singer and really comes into her element. Tonight she performed her new single, Liar, and it is amazing. Now I’ve seen footage of her live performance and she oozes confidence on the stage and make that spot her own, and has equally as much confidence to use her full vocal range. Whilst on-stage she wore red and it made her look sassy to say the least and she ozzed femininity. And it was a PVC suit which made the performance just that bit more daring. Liar as a sort of hit Latina quality about it and sounds like one for the summer playlist. It sounds like up beat happy song and one you could sing along to. Even though she was on-stage with five other dancers she is someone you simply cannot take you’re eyes of her. As a music lover I defy to look at her and not feel mesmerised by her. Oh, and she’s a Game of Thrones fan

Also on the sofa were GoT’s Emilia Clarken and Jason Mamoa , Ross Noble and Regina King providing laughs, banter and discussing upcoming projects.

Graham Norton/The Sugababes

October 25, 2019 — Leave a comment

After several years away from the lime light one of Britain’s best-known girl bands, The Sugababes, made a come back and it was with the original line-up; Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy. They performed the late 90’s hit, ‘Flowers’, a garage classic originally performed by female duo, Sweet Female Attitude (SFA) with DJ Spoony. Now I remember the original line-up when they first emerged and it took me a while (and line-up change) to get into them. As much as I would have liked to have enjoyed their rendition of the garage classic sadly I just couldn’t get into it. Some of it may be because I’ve since grown up a bit since Sweet 7, the other might be because I’ve drifted away from that genre. Another reason why this girl band’s is that they are nickname as the time-lords of pop as every 1-2 albums there was a change in the line-up. Now I proudly call myself a fan in the past but sadly they weren’t doing anything for me this time.

Also on the sofa were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Debbie Harry and Nadiya Hussain to discuss their upcoming projects as well as the upcoming film, Terminator: Dark Fate

Graham Norton/Elbow

October 4, 2019 — Leave a comment

Just been listening to the new song by British Indie band, Elbow; White Noise/White Heat. Now I haven’t heard anything from these guys in so long I did begin to think if they were ever going to resurface again. Thankfully they have and this is the result. Definitely worth the wait. White Noise/White Heat is an amazing song and front-man, Guy Harvey, vocal abilities are as incredible as ever. A legend of a front-man, truly incredible in every sense of the word. The sound of the music itself had an epic feel to it giving it more body, music wise. Not long finished watching their performance and I liked how the screen went back and forth between colour and black and white, in some ways it made the performance more interesting and eye-catching to watch. Elbow’s new song is from their new album Giants of all Sizes. If the album is anything like as good as their new song them I’m getting my hands on a copy as soon as

Also on the sofa was American actress, Rene Zellweger, British comic legend Lenny Henry, the other half of Wham, Andrew Ridgely and documentary maker Louis Theroux providing gossip, laughs and banter as well as discussing upcoming projects

🙂

 

Graham Norton/Taylor Swift

May 24, 2019 — Leave a comment

Just caught a glimpse, well heard a glimpse actually, of Taylor Swift’s new song, Me, just a few minutes ago and I have to admit it’s not overly bad. The songs does it its moments in terms of the way in which it’s structured and has a sort of ‘girly vibe’ to it. Now I openly admit that I’m not a huge fan of Taylor Swift yet I openly admit that she’s a good singer and has a big vocal range on her. In regards to her singing abilities she’s actually quite good and seems, displays full confidence in herself and shows a commanding presence whenever she’s on the stage. In tonight’s performance she had great backing singers who appeared to be more like actual band members than just average backing singers. However, despite the fact that her new single sounds good I won’t be rushing to buy or download it anytime soon. Me is out now and is on her new album of which the title has yet to be released.

Also on the sofa were James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Sophie Turner and Jessica Chastain to discuss the new upcoming X-Men film, Dark Phoenix which comes out in early June. As an X-Men I genuinely can’t wait for this

🙂

Graham Norton/Shakespear’s Sister

May 10, 2019 — Leave a comment

I first remember hearing ‘Stay’ when it first came out and it was a powerhouse of a hit, Siobahn and Marcella’s voices just hit all the right notes, and within all intents and purposes it was a rich, powerful song with deep, gothic quality. It’s been 27 years since they performed it and it’s not lost any of its touch. Sound-wise it’s got a bit lighter but then you’re just reminded of how great Siobahn and Marcella sound together. Stay still holds the record for the the most weeks at no.1, eight impressive weeks back in it’s heyday. It’s one of those songs that defies time and still sounds as incredible as it did back then. Anyway, the ladies of Shakespear are releasing a new album called Singles Party, can’t wait. A great comeback for Shakespear’s Sister. Also on the sofa were Will Smith, Naomi Scott, Kevin Hart and Octavia Spencer.

On The TV… Claire Richards

January 25, 2019 — Leave a comment

Only just finished watching Claire Richards (former Steps front-woman) sing her new single These Wings on the TV, I’m just going to say now that even though I’ve never been a fan of hers I have to confess I liked her tonight. These Wings is quite a heartfelt song that definitely has that drive to it as it gathers momentum not long after it starts. Wings is one of those type of songs where it carries emotions and has that intimate feel to it. As a singer all I’ll say is that, despite not being a fan, she is quite talented and can hit the high notes required for such a track. On the whole it had a stage musical feel and added a bit more energy and power performance,  also it was nice to see Claire perform with a collective of musical individuals who weren’t steps.

Also on the sofa providing banter and gossip were former James Bond actress Judi Dench (the 90’s M), Cuckoo star Greg Davies, Kenneth Branagh and boxer Anthony Joshua